RAISING THE BAR ON SHARING WITH THE LESS FORTUNATE
Royal Plaza on Scotts encouraged its staff to raise funds for beneficiaries of Community Chest by getting them to experience how it feels like to be physically challenged.
RP staff were challenged to perform day-to-day tasks without normal functioning abilities at four experiential booths, allowing them to experience the lives of the visually-impaired, the wheelchair-bound and the arthritic.
An RP staff experiences the life of a visually handicapped as she tries to pour water while being blindfolded
An RP staff trying to open a door while sitting on a wheel-chair
The event, “Next Step Forward with Royal Plaza on Scotts” held on 20 April 2011, managed to increase staff participation rate for SHARE, Community Chest’s monthly workplace giving programme, from the current 90% to 93%, with more employees expected to sign up.
RP Staff signing up for SHARE
One of RP’s staff, Nishan Aziz, Senior Restaurant Manager of Carousel, has generously donated his one-month salary out of his bonus payout to the Community Chest. Mr Aziz says, “I have been inspired by the culture here at Royal Plaza on Scotts which encourages us to give back to the community.”
Mr Nishan Aziz
General Manager of RP, Mr Patrick Fiat, led by example as he pledged to increase his monthly contribution by twice the original amount, from $58 to $159.
Mr Fiat who is also a member of the Community Chest’s SHARE sub-committee, adds, “RP has supported the Community Chest since 2001 and has many initiatives for the less-privileged through the years. Our employees’ monthly contribution has increased more than half the original amount since the start of the event, which brings the employees’ monthly contribution from $1,535 to $2,455. With the hotel matching dollar-to-dollar, this will bring about $22,080 more per year, amounting to a total of $58,920 per annum.”
Mr Patrick Fiat pledged to increase his monthly contribution to SHARE.
RP is a major partner of “Hoteliers with a Heart”, a SHARE campaign launched by Community Chest in June 2010.
Mr Eric Ang, Vice-Chairman of Community Chest and Co-Chairman of the Community Chest SHARE Sub-Committee, says, “We would like to commend Royal Plaza on Scotts for bringing the ‘Hoteliers with a Heart’ to new heights. Royal Plaza on Scotts has been a sterling example in the hotel industry since the launch of the campaign last year and continues to lead the way with their creative efforts. To-date, seven new hotels have come on board the SHARE programme with 1,000 new SHARE donors and we hope to encourage more employers and staff in the hotel sector to support Community Chest in raising funds for the needy.”
Moving forward, Community Chest hopes to promote SHARE in other industries such as Securities Brokerage, Electronics and Pharmaceuticals.
Community Chest raises funds on a yearly basis to meet the needs of the social service programmes it helps support. Community Chest ensures that fund-raising and other operating costs are kept to a minimum. As these costs are covered mainly by Tote Board and Singapore Pools, every dollar raised by Community Chest will be made available to social service programmes under its care. These programmes will help provide critical and essential services to: Nurture children and youths to succeed, dignify the lives of the elderly, keep families together and help people with disabilities lead independent lives.